Pres a Vis - Hits and Misses, but Overall Quite Good

Dine About was back on this month after a one-month in home special occasion last month. In April we brought Vietnamese to the Phan's who were caring for Isaac, just a couple weeks old!

A good group this time around tested out a new city location for DASF - the Presidio. Pres a Vis is in the new Letterman building (Lucas' new film studios). Their theme is tastes from around the world. Tough to pull off this very eclectic menu, but they do a good job mixing the right cuisines and flavors.

Mostly veteran DASF-ers with one new addition - Isaac Phan! At 1-month old he his already following in his parents culinary footsteps. Joining Isaac were: Pat and Yosef, Cecilia and Victor, Phu and Winnie, and me (Mollie). Dr. Jon, had a seat at the table, but got stuck again at the hospital.

Overall a very nice evening. Food was very tasty, with a couple dishes that wow-ed us, a couple that disappointed. Atmosphere was impressive, but service fell far short of expectations. I had better service at Pasta Pomodoro yesterday! I would recommend this place, but don't expect fine dining service.

Food: 87
Atmosphere: 92
Service: 70

Food: the duck buns were a big surprise hit, but the "spicy" hamachi rolls were bland. OK endive salad. Salmon and Black Cod - big flavors, delicious. Steak just ordinary. Dessert - beautiful plating and flavor to match. Creme brulee was actually unique with a crumb crust and chocolate with cherry ice cream made an impression.

Atmosphere: they've done a great job with the new Letterman building. Nice wood/glass interiors with mix of seating areas; great views. Entrance through pay garage took away from the luxury feel. Bathrooms - see next posting for "Jon on the John" - from guest commentator, Victor, I love poetry!

Service: you expect a lot more from a place like this. First we waited 45 minutes for our reserved table. . . points must be docked unless we're bribed with drinks/appetizers/apologies from the management - none of which happened. Waiter was a dud - no flair, no real interest in us. Water glasses weren't filled, unused wine glasses not removed, no clean plates. . . and a dump of the check at the end with no "closure - thanks for coming in" type farewell. The automatic 20% gratuity was too much.

Until next month - happy dining!

Salt House Doesn't Disappoint

Salt House, from the same folks that brought us TownHall, came with high expectations. They didn't disappoint.

We had a strong crowd of 13 participate in this months DASF. The restaurant is a small place and we had to split into a table of 8 and table of 5. We had regulars and some relatively newbies:

Table w/ 8:
The Phans on their last Dine About without a little one at home
Mollie and her visiting parents (yes, Jerry and Elna make another strong appearance!)
Steven and Zeena - had been to 1550 Hyde, but had never taken part in the ratings
Patricia - just a couple weeks back from her wedding and honeymoon abroad

Table w/ 5:
4 veterans: Victor and Cecilia, Avis and John
Newcomer - Lehmann

I'll be commenting here on the experience of the table with 8 (apparently the other table had quite a different experience.)

Food: 92 - very solid on all dishes; just a couple outstanding dishes: the salads (crab salad and mixed greens with warm homemade ricotta cheese), excellent patrale fish (very light with a spinach sauce; mashed potatoes a little on the salty side), and great coconut cake dessert. Fun "street food" fries with cheese and gravy and "franks and beans" (sausage with garbanzo beans).

Service: 96 - really outstanding and made the dinner stand out as one of our better overall dining experiences. The pacing of the 6 courses was perfect; new plates and silverware for every course (maybe that was a bit much).

Ambiance: 84 - not bad at all, and actually kind of eclectic and interesting. But nothing wowed us here. Look for John on the Jon by Klinkee (since Jon Carter was at work).

Another really fun evening of good friends and good food!

Perbacco - Nice Looking, But Not Much More

Once again I've let too many weeks go by before writing our blog entry on our latest Dine About SF experience. The details are a little fuzzy. . .

Particpants: Winnie and Phu, Patricia and Yosef, Maureen, and a newcomer - a friend of Pat's and Yosef's, Jon (who for once wasn't post call) and me. A festive and lively group!

Scores were mostly in the low '80s, except service that hit a new low, in the low '70s. Food, which had an Italian flare, was good, but nothing stood out (except maybe the breadsticks.) Average salami plate, strange tomato gnocci dish, and not much else that was memorable. What was memorable was our waiter. He had a certain harshness that made you feel just a little bit on edge. He lost big points when he said he couldn't split the bill on 2 (yes, just 2) credit cards!

Jon's "Jon on the John" column:
Overall - not good. I won't get into the details, but not real clean, steep staircase with old, high school style rubber matting to get to the downstairs bathroom, and tiny little stalls.

If anyone else can remember a bit more - please add a comment!

Jon and I won't be at the next DASF. . . looking forward to reading about it!

Eat Well!
Mollie

Terzo - Another Solid Neighborhood Joint

After a strong turn out for 1550 Hyde last month, we have a small group this time for Terzo during the holiday month. We also dine on the Third Friday for the first time for DASF, appropriate since Terzo means "Third" in Italian! We have the usual DASFers (the Klinkes, the Carters and the Phans). We were sat in the small back room right next to their wine cellar (should have brought my wine key with me). It is a nice, cozy and tastefully decorated room. The Pan-Mediteranian menu consists of mostly small plates for sharing, highlighting seasonal ingredients.

Ratings:

Overall value - 85 (good food at a decent price)
Atmosphere - 88 (love the cozy room and a roommie table)
Food - 85 (solid food overall but nothing stands out or memorable. The egg bruchetta was excellent but the Roasted Niman Ranch Beef with Chimichurri was bland and their version of the "calzone" was pretty ordinary too).
Service - 85 (The waiter did a decent job with moving from lighter fares to heavier dishes but they did not change our plates once, even though we were tasting many different dishes with varying flavors).

Terzo should do well in Cow Hollow. It is a cozy neighborhood restaurant with good food and reasonable prices.

More Pics from 1550 Hyde

1550 Hyde: Neighborhood Gourmet

I fear I've waited too long to enter our blog post for our November Dine About. It's a good thing this was a memorable dining experience! Now's the time for anyone to jump in and fill in details I've left out.

First - a new record for DASF, we had 16 people attend and we were turning them away at the last minute! We had to split up, as this is a small, neighborhood establishment and they only had one "group" table and that squeezed in 7. So mini tables were formed:

1) Table 1: "Some tie to Rhode Island or at least Walden": Rachel and Walden flying through SF from HI, Germaine, Steven G. and Zina.

2) Table 2: "The Peninsula locals": The Klinkees (John and Avis) and the still acting like newlyweds - Tim and Dani.

3) Table 3: "Everyone Else": Phu, Winnie, Mollie, Cecilia, Victor, and another strong showing from Mollie's folks, Jerry and Elna Brown (their 4th Dine About - all great dinners, they bring us good luck.)

Scores were generally in the mid 90s. Excellent all around - service, food and atmosphere.

Highlight was the excellent food - all local, organic ingredients. Also, they treated us well. The big table waited for 20-30 minutes past our reservation, but the owner was quick to comp a large, delectable antipasti platters. The olives and carrots were particularly good. (this is in contrast to our visit last fall to Zuppa, where we waited out in the cold for an hour past our reservation, with barely an apology and nothing comp'd.)

It's been too long to recount the specific dishes, but I remember each dish stood on its own with creative, but not overwhelming flavors. I also distinctly remember that dessert was excellent, especially the espresso ice cream concoction.

I will be going back to 1550 Hyde (and not just because Dr. Jon was home asleep after a grueling few days at the County.) Great, fresh, local food with friendly service. Perfect.

See you all in December!

Scott Howard - Worth a Return Visit!

Our October Dine About was Scott Howard, a restaurant that shares the same namesake as its talented chef! This month's DASF was a good come back after a Senseless DASF in September. Scott Howard occupies the space that used to house the Cypress Club and Jackson 500. It is an attractive space with an open kitchen and the place was packed with beautiful people the night we were there. They sat us in the center of the dinner room next to a large round table that has an impressive flower arrangement. Overhead is a huge wrought-iron chandelier.

The Group: We had a first timer in Lehmann Koo, a foodie in her own right! Jen and Errol, making consecutive DASFs!!! CC, you and Victor are lagging behind in attendance. Our newlyweds Ken and Maureen and the Phans.

The creative foods were well executed and all tasted fantastic. To start, we were all treated to an amuse bouche of intensely flavor carrot broth. I am almost tempted to put Scott Howard up there with Winterland but the service was only average for DASF standard. The staff was pretty attentive overall but we had to ask our waiter 3 times before he brought Winnie's drink.

Ratings:
Overall value - 85 (same caliber food as Frisson but at a much more reasonable price)

Atmosphere - 88 (nice warm open space with just the right accents)

Food - 92 (excellent Smoke Trout Truffle Egg Salad & Tuna Tartar; the Artic Char and Sea Bass were both perfectly cooked; the long braised Short Ribs was rich and silky; all three deserts were solid but the S’mores is a must try)

Service - 85 (Our waiter deserves a lower score but the rest of the staff help raise it by at least 10 points. Lehmann asked about a particular wine but all he would say was that “it’s good”. Luckily someone else was able to help out. The rest was the staff was very attentive throughout the evening).

Prior to opening his own restaurant, Scott Howard was the Executive Chef at the highly popular Fork Restaurant in Marin. I for one am happy that he has opened his own place in the city.

No "Jon On the John This Week" since both Johns were out.

Sparrow - Great Service Turning Average Food into a Great Dinning Experience!

Sparrow - located inside the ultra high end residential apartment of the Gramercy Towers, was a solid DASF choice. It is a beautiful and well appointted restaurant serving contemporary cuisine with Asia and French influences. They have a beautiful privite "Wine" room that could accommodate up to 12 guests but we didn't quite have the turn out this time around. The group consists of Jon (sans Mollie - who was in Kauai bonding with her sister), Sandi (welcome back after a long hiatus), Winnie and Me.

The ratings:

Service - 98 - I had to rate this category first because we received the best service to date. Our waitress, Leah Rae, was fun, knowledgeable and most importantly on top of her game!!! She made good recommendations on both the food and wine and had excellent pacing from course to course. She recommended the Calera 2001 Jensen Vinyard Pinot Noir that was incredible. Being a fan of bold and robust wines, I was a little skeptical at first but she assured us that we will like it and it did not disappoint!

Food - 88 - We thought all the dishes were solidly executed, taste pretty good and the presentation/plating was nice but nothing brought out the "wow" factor like the food at Winterland or seared Fois Gras and Tuna Tartare with cucumber melon sorbet from Frisson. Although the poached Lobster appertizer came close.

Atmosphere - 90 - See the introduction. The music was a nice mix of world beats without being too load.

Jon-on-the-Jon. Jon is back and will write his Jon review....see next comment!

Overall, we like this place but just like Winterland, it probably will not survive due to its location. It is on top of Nob Hill right across from the Grace Cathedral but it is in an area that is easy to miss from the street.

Dosa - Go for the Food!

Dosa - far from accomodating for a big group, but the food keeps 'em coming back!

Great turn out - in fact we had to turn a few folks away! Sorry about that (see below). In attendence: the newlyweds Tim and Daniella, our leaders Phu & Winnie, penninsula peeps Victor, Cecilia, and Mollie, love it spicy Germaine, and special guest Walden.

Dosa isn't our typical kind of place where we bring a lot of people and get special treatment because we have a blog (and we have Phu). In fact, let this be a lesson, we were limited to a table of 8 (we squeezed in 9) and those who didn't RSVP in a timely manner were shut out. Dosa would not expand the table. And, we nearly lost our table when some diners (namely me) were late. Picture soup nazi Seinfeld and you're starting to get the idea. And finally, our waitress was not happy to be serving a big group, and she stated her case early serving waters with scowls for all.

But, alas, the night did turn around. Phu let the waiterss know the drill - 1 person orders a lot of food and we all share. We had an agreeable happy waitress after that, who actually did a terrific job guiding our selections.

There's one reason to go to Dosa - for the food. So many delightful tastes with every dish. The chicken appetizer, fried bread, and curries were especially good. And, always welcome, Dosa provided very good value. Pacing was all wrong, and we couldn't hear each other speak, but nonetheless, happy diners we were.

On with the ratings:

• Food - 90 - matched the variety and flavor we've experienced at far fancier and pricier establishments.
• Serivce - ranged from 60-70 - The waitress did guide us to a great selection of plates, but scores remain low due to bad pacing, very cramped table, no new plates. Really far worse service than we've seen most other places.
• Atmosphere - 75 - HOT! Cramped! Loud!

Jon-on-the-Jon. Jon Carter was getting some shut eye and didn't make it to Dosa. Victor will be stepping in with a Jon-on-the-Jon guest poetry entry. See next comment.

Until August. . . when we'll be dining the 2nd Friday of the month! Happy eats!

Citizen Thai & The Monkey

June 2, 2006

Citizen Thai & The Monkey - Decent Thai food in North Beach but didn't impressed the tough DASF crowd!!

Small group for this for this month's DASF due to a few last minute dropouts. Avis, Alicia & the Phans were in attendance.

Ratings:
Food = 80
Service = 70
Atmosphere = 88

Jon-on-the-Jon: Once again, no Jon-on-the-Jon rating this month.

Service - The service was pretty poor at Citizen. The waitress was only there to take our order, serve the food and give us the check. She was MIA the rest of the time. Although she did made one lame attempt at replacing used silverwares but she only did it for Avis!! The service at their sister restaurant, Koh Samui & The Monkey was much better. What a big drop off from Clementine.

Food - Citizen Thai serves up inventive & pretty good Thai food. The appetizers were the stars. The Fried Sweet Corn Patties, the Mieng Kum, and the Crying Tiger Salad (first had this at Koh Samui) were all very good. Of the entrees, only the Mango Catfish stands out. Their Green Curry was a very average.

Atmosphere - Charming and intimate setting, very nicely decorated with plenty of neat arts from Thailand.

Overall, a decent Thai restaurant but tough parking location would sway us to choose other good Thai restaurants in the city.

Clementine - Classic French, Tres Bon!

Clementine pleased the senses and palettes of this month's Dine About crowd, living up to its billing as a delicious neighborhood French bistro.

A good showing from the usual suspects and a few folks who seem to be turning into regulars! Pat drove in just in time from Berkeley; Son, a 2nd-timer charmed the crowd with stories of Nebraska; Phu and Winnie - ensuring we were well taken care of (Phu even tried speaking French!), The Browns from Phoenix timed their trip to hit DASF; and me (Mollie) sans Jon (Jon back from Costa Rica, but sick after working all night).

Ratings:
Food = 90
Service = 94
Atmosphere = 88
Jon-on-the-Jon = stand-in Son has been fired from any future Jon-on-the-Jon ratings, instead being delegated to rating the female wait staff (with the Garcon staff still top-of-mind.)

Service is the reason to return to Clementine. Every detail was attended to and the pacing was perfect.

Food received a healthy 90 rating with all dishes executed extremely well. The blue cheese tart and shrimp citrus appetizers were favorites and the duck with mushroom sauce and blue nose sea bass with risotto were wonderful. And, the French know dessert - highlights included the special of the day - fresh strawberries over moist tart with "(H)azelnut D'ough", and French toast with caramelized ice cream.

Atmosphere. Charming and intimate setting, plenty of room, and soft music allowed us to converse easily. Very comforting, but avoid if possible the toilettes which were obviously decorated by a man (see Jon-on-the-Jon notes above.)

Overall, a solid neighborhood restaurant I could see returning to. Good value; and better value if you can make the prix-fix menu from 5-7pm M-F.

Looking forward to seeing the other posts!!

Annie's Bistro - A Good Pac Heights Neighborhood Joint

By Winnie Phan:

For the first time in the history of DASF, we dined on the second Friday for the month of April. We dined at Annie’s Bistro – a Cal-French bistro. This lower Pacific Heights neighborhood joint is small but quaint. The attendees for this month’s group: the Klinklees and the Phans.

It’s been a couple of weeks, but this is what I remember for the ratings.

Food: 83
There were some good dishes and some that were just so-so. For appetizers, Phu ordered the beef carpaccio, mussel Marinière and the open mushroom raviolis. Avis ordered the soup du jour, white navy bean soup. The white navy bean soup and the open mushroom raviolis were really good. The beef carpaccio and mussels Marinière wasn’t very memorable, they were “okay”. For entrees, Phu ordered the Crispy Duck Confit, Rack of Lamb, Pan Roasted Blue Nose Sea Bass and side sauté spinach. The duck was really good. The pomengrate sauce complemented the duck very well. The lamp was cooked perfectly and the accompany port sauce was very nice. The blue nose sea bass could have been better. The pearl onion red wine sauce was too heavy and overpowered the natural favors of the sea bass. The side spinach was a very small serving. It was barely enough for John, Avis and I to split. For dessert, we picked the Ginger Crème Brulee and the Tarte Tatin. The was definitely the better of the two. The texture of the crème brulee was very custardy, too dense and cake like.

Service 88:
There were a hostess, a bartender and a waiter. Our waiter was really good considering he had to service the whole dining room. He was on top of it.

Atmosphere 82:
Quaint, cozy, small, intimate, neighborhood joint. Seats by the door got drafts of the wind every time someone came into the restaurant. Poor Avis had to put her jacket back on to stay warm. No Jon on the John rating this month. John thought it wasn’t worth a Haiku either.

Overall, Annie’s Bistro is a good neighborhood restaurant, offering decent food at decent prices.

Winterland - A Hidden Treasure

After a disappointing Feb. dine about, March came in and blew our socks off. This little known place in Pac Heights was phenomenal! We hear it's not attracting big crowds, and we hope to spread the word about this top of the line dining establishment. After Quince, this is my top DASF experience to date (and that's after 23 months of doing this!)

Go check it out at: www.winterlandrestaurant.com

Everyone was so excited and tickled by the food and experience, we started a new tradition of making up Haiku. (maybe this was a result of the Hemp seed in the dessert.) See the next posting.

We had the core group: The Klinkes, the ever loving Ceci and Victor, just back from Carnival Phu, and me. We missed Jon (asleep on the couch at home after a long call night) and Winnie (not feeling good after what must have been a great birthday.)

The ratings:
Atmosphere: 90
Nice, modern, nothing crazy, but pleasant. Love that it is a small, intimate place.

Service: 97
Outstanding! Salpi, our waiteress was very knowledgeable, as was all the staff, charming while not being overbearing. A great service team - they swooped in smoothly to deliver all our dishes at once, and cleared the plates all at once - perfectly orchestrated. Plus, nice extra touches, with an amuse at the beginning and nice peti fours at the conclusion of the meal (we love the freebies.) Usually this type of service is reserved for the very very top line restaurants (e.g., French Laundry).

Food: 95.
Wow. Wow. Wow. Tons of fresh ingredients and different flavors - but it all worked great together. Highlights: Octopus Ceviche and Chicken wings and gnochii with butternut squash puree to start. Light, smooth Alaskan Cod with infused mash potatoes, wonderful short ribs, creative lamb with spinach crepe. 2 out of 3 desserts hit the spot, with the rhubarb brioche and olive oil ice cream topping our list - sounds crazy, but unbelievably tasty.

I may have got the ratings a little mixed up - they were all in the 90s, so correct me if I'm mistaken.

More on the next post. . .a new tradition in poetry to tempt you to read on.

Garcon - Not up to Par (Feb's DASF)

Garcon, located in the mission, was pleasant, but not up to regular DASF standards. It's been a month since we went there, and I can't remember one detail - a sign of a not so memorable experience.

What made the night great was the company. We had a few first-timers: Jen Anastasoff - who has signs of becoming a real foodie. Son Tran, the new roommate upstairs from Phu, transplanted from New Orleans, was wowed by everything, as first timers usually are. And, Mark Uhlik, a friend of Jon's from high school in Colorado, in town for a meeting. A suprisingly great critic - hailing from Indianapolis, not usually known for cuisine. We also enjoyed the presence of Germaine - back after attending the very first Dine About so many months ago! All were great additions!

Rounding out the group were the regulars: Phu and Winnie, Victor and Cecilia, Jon and me.

Great group; not great food (this is a new bit of Haiku you will start to see in our write-ups. More on that with the next rating for Winterland.)

Restaurant itself was crowded, and we were packed into the back room. I do remember a particularly good chocolate dessert.

Anyone else remember anything?

Cheers,
Mollie

Ame - Food Pleases, Service Disappoints

On Jan. 6th DASF gathered at Ame - a fusion sort of restaurant in the St. Regis hotel at 3rd and Mission. It was another lively evening with good friends, good conversation, and interesting food. In attendance: The Klinkees - with both Avis and John making it out; Phu & Winnie - passing up mediocre steaks at the Old SteakHouse to dine with DASF instead; Mollie and post-call but just drank a gallon of coffee so I'm bright-eyed and ready to enjoy Jon; and our out-of-town, first timer, special guest - Walden!!

And the ratings are:
Atmosphere - 92
Food - 85
Service - 60

Appetizers were too small to share, with Avis trying to cut bits of tuna small enough to go around. Watermelon Radish stuffed with some kind of fish was delicious and fresh, but Tuna Five and the Japanese Custard failed to impress.

Main dishes were delectable - wonderful Black Cod, tender beef, fresh salmon, and very good risotto (Avis thought too Salty, but not as salty as the Risotto we sent back at Cafe Kate, so things are improving.)

Dessert was good with tasty key lime pie, but average pear crisp and chocolate cake.

Atmosphere was very cozy - has a modern feel, very high ceilings paired with nice dividers made the area feel spacious, but also cozy. We were able to hear each other and spread out a bit.

Service was severely lacking. Waiters didn't know the menu, forgot John's beers, didn't bring dessert plates - all such rookie mistakes we couldn't hardly give more than a 60 rating.

Most of us said we wouldn't return - not enough value and service really off the mark.

And there you have it - another installment of Dine About!! Always a good time. . . Join us in February!

Cafe Kati

We dined at Cafe Kati for the November edition of DASF. Cafe Kati is considered one of the early pioneers of "East West Fusion" cuisine. It is an intimate neighborhood restaurant. It has been on the Chronicles' Michael Bauer's Top 100 list consistently year in and year out and its food consistently rates above 25 in Zagat's. So the expectation going in was pretty high.

We had a small group this time around...Me, Winnie, Mollie and Avis - the regulars and by far the most critical members of DASF.

Now the ratings:

Food: 73 - Shortly after we sat down, they brought out corn bread. The appetizers started off nicely. The Peanut Crusted Prawns with green papaya, mint and thai basil salad was delicious. The Kati Signature Dragon Roll was decent but we all thought the flavor was a little bland for our taste. For the entrees, we ordered 3 plates to share; the Kati Marinated Skirt Steak, a Seafood Risotto dish and a Pan-Seared Orata. The Steak and Orata were pretty good...excellent flavor and cook just right but the biggest disappointment of the night was the Risotto!!! The entire dish was too salty. It completely ruined a very flavorful dish. It was so salty that we had to send it back - a DASF first. The waiter replaced it with the Miso Glased Black Bass in a Dashi Broth that was excellent. For dessert, both the Panna Cotta & the Warm & Gooey Chocolate Orvit Cake were pretty average. The Panna Cotta can't compare to the one we had at Zuppa. That risotto dish knock the score down by 15+ points!

Service: 80 - The waiter did a good job here but nothing unique or special to warrant a higher score. He made up for the over-salted Risotto dish by recommended a very good Miso Glazed Black Bass dish and he also picked out a pretty good bottle of wine.

Atmosphere: 78 - Cafe Kati is a small neighborhood restuarant. It is small and intimate but we didn't like the decor of the back room very much. The front dining room looks a bit more romantic.

"Jon on the Jon": 50 - Jon was not there to rate the "Jon" but the girls wasn't too impress with it.

Zuppa, Zuppa, Zuppa

We dined at Zuppa last night - a 'classic' SOMA establishment (exposed rafters and concrete walls) serving a range of Italian cuisine. Patricia stepped up to the plate and recommended our restaurant this month and even made the reservation. Thanks, Patricia!

Great group:
New parents Scott and Melissa withthe youngest dine about goer yet - 6 mo. old Teddy - who was a perfect baby and even woke up for a while to check out his surroundings, smile at everyone and drink some milk.
The regulars: Phu, Winnie, Patricia, Yoseph (I"m sorry if I'm not spelling this correctly - please advise!), Jon and Mollie
Out of town 2-time dine about diners - Jerry "doesn't like fish but gave it a try", and beets please" Elna

Summary of the night:
A concerning start. We shivered outside until after 9pm for our 8:30pm reservation, waiting for an oblivious big party who lingered and lingered. The hostess didn't handle the stress well and appeard very frazzled.

Things picked up. We started drinking wine and the staff put together a small, but more quiet table in their upstairs area. From there, the food started coming and we were much happier.

Now, on to my ratings:
Service: 65 - upon further reflection, I have decided Zuppa could have received a relatively high rating from me (above 90) if the service hadn't resembled that of a button-toting TGIF kid (an accurate description from Phu, embellished a bit by me). A self-absorbed, young waiter tried his best (and even got sage guidence from Phu), but ended up delivering a very hurried experience. It's tough to call out what exactly made the service poor, but needless to say we didn't feel comfortable and things didn't flow smoothly - maybe others can fill in the details!

Food: 88 - this is where Zuppa has moments of greatness. The meat platters and octopus salad where delicious, as was the very tender and tasty pork dish. Pizzas, risotto, and crab pasta were good, but average, and fish and steak had limited flavor. The beats and carrots, a special request, did add a little extra zest and desserts (the cotta something or other and hazelnut tort) finished the night off strong.

Atmosphere: 85 - nice, but typical SOMA, nothing special. Plus, if you're going to make people wait, at least have a bar or more than a 4x4 plot of concrete w blustery drafts to stand on.

Sub-category: facilities: 60. We will have a new section, "Jon on the Jon" that Carter will add. But, for my own review: can you say, strip mall like bathroom? Nice restaurants need nice restrooms, period. Why do so many restaurants fail in this area. How hard is nice lighting, maybe some scented flowers, candles, etc.

OK diners and non-diners alike. All you have to do is click on the "0 Comments" to add a comment (you don't have to log in or anything) and blather away! Until next month. . .

Mollie

Pesce - Fun Fish Food

It's been a couple weeks since our visit to Pesce, so I'll try to remember enough to add a review for our very lonely blog. The ordering began with Phu selecting 2 wines to which the waitress had the nerve to question whether Phu knew what he was getting into with his selection of red wine. Apparently others before us had ordered this "earthy" red, found it to be a bit odd, and had quickly returned it. In our case, the wine tasted excellent and complemented the array of food. Would our fearless leader lead us astray?

I can't recall the actual ratings, but I believe after removing the outliers, we fell smack in the middle (where most of our ratings seem to fall.) The sardines were something to remember and the whole fish and bistecca were excellent. The bathroom was pleasent and smelled refreshingly like peppermint (thanks to the generous bowl of peppermints).

Jon's comments: quaint Russian Hill location (fun to see the old haunts on Polk!), middle-western style waitress (don't know what that means), intiment dining. Overall: we tried a B restaurant and it outperformed at a B+!

Also - wanted to note what a fantastic job Phu does each Dine About to order just the right amount of food with perfect variety and flair. My experience last night confirmed how lucky we are! Last night we dined at Tao Cafe (22nd and Guerrero) and somehow I was put in charge of ordering for 10. Luckily the waitress helped and my years dining with Phu paid off. Right amount, and good variety of food, and people were happy. I'd recommend Tao Cafe if you want good Vietnamese food that's a couple steps above PPQ in terms atmoshpere and food presentation.

Who else has something to add?

*********************

By the way - let me know if you are having any trouble accessing the blog, or creating new posts. To create a post you need to log in to: www.blogger.com. Once you log in, select the SF Dine About blog and select to create a new post. Happy Blogging!

**********************

Kingfish Write-up

The July 2005 DASF was somewhat of a dissapointment!! DASF members were looking forward to some good New Orleans style cuisine but what we got was ordinarary food at upscale prices.

Eight people dined at Kingfish and gave the restaurant the following ratings (on a scale of 1 - 100):

Food - 73 – The oysters and cast-iron roasted mussels were decent but the Gulp Prawn Vietnamese Roll was a disaster! The rice paper was tough and the dipping sauce tasted like the cheap store bought immitation. I don't understand why a Cajun restaurant would serve Asian inspired food? Fusion is one thing but poor immitation should be avoided. The Jambalaya and the Seared Scallop Etouffee were ok but for the DASF members that have been to New Orleans all have tasted much better versions. Finally, Kingfish's own house-made beignets were nothing like the famous beignets from Cafe Du Monde. The cocktails were all excellent and help brought the score up a few points.

Atmosphere – 70, not sure what theme the restaurant is going for??? They have a giant screen TV on one wall, a water fountain in the center of the main room and a large array of folk arts adorning the walls. We were there on a light that the Giants were out of town but we can imagine the pre/post game crowd there.

Service – 75, the waitress did a decent job....nothing special.

For August, we are dining at COCO 500. COCO 500 took over the space that former house the popular French bistro Bizou (I for one was sad to see it go). COCO 500 is the expression of Chef Loretta Keller’s love of Mediterranean flavors, colors and textures. Her inspired cooking features the best local ingredients, meats and poultry from Sonoma farms and the freshest fish and shellfish.

An Inaugural Posting - Welcome!

I am proud to announce we have a blog! Never say never. . .

I'd like to kick off this blog by writing a great big THANK YOU!!!!!! to our master of ceremonies, the man who gets us the chef's table time and time again, the man who ensures our meal is perfectly balanced to enjoy all that each restaurant has to offer, the man who has kept our dining group going. . . the one and only, Phu!!! Thanks Phu, from all of us.

We have had to slightly alter our name to fit the available web address. The web address for this blog is www.sfda.blogspot.com, so that means we are San Francisco Dine About (rather than Dine About San Francisco. DASF was not available.)

I have also included a photo from my favorite SFDA experience to date - the chef's table at Quince! We're pictured here in the kitchen where we dined like kings and witnessed the artistic creation of every dessert by the ever so popular pastry chef (we proceeded, of course, to order one of every dessert.) Also pictured are my parents - who so enjoyed being guest SFDA diners, they have raved to all their friends in the suprisingly culinary town of Phoenix.

Let's raise our glasses and toast to many years of great friends, great food, and great SF nights!

Cheers,
Mollie

Entry #2 - Summary of past ratings

(pic above - the private room at Cortez)

I wanted to copy over the good notes Phu and Winnie have been keeping on our past dining experiences.

All past dinner ratings are included.

Besides Phu and Winnie, who has been to the most SF Dine Abouts? I come in strong with 7 (they're highlighted in red for fun).

Background:
About Dine About San Francisco (DASF) - DASF is an informal dining group of close friends whose sole purpose is to dine out at the finer restaurant establishments in the city of San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area. The idea is to eat out at a “hot” new restaurant or at a one of the Chronicles top 100 restaurants the first Friday of each month (for ease of planning).

Past Restaurants Visited:
King Fish, July'05 - ratings yet to come, but they didn't sound good
Frisson, June '05 (the one that broke the bank :)) (Food - 96, Atmosphere - 95, Service - 92)

Jack Falstaff, May '05
Food - 88 – I thought all the dishes were pretty good but there were no standouts except maybe the oxtail raviolis.
Atmosphere – 90, sleek modern restaurant typical of the SOMA district.
Service – 88, the waiter had some high points and low points. He did well with splitting and pacing the dishes but it took him a long time to get some of the drinks.

Quince (Apr, 05)
Food - 95 – Excellent food throughout; the preparation were simple with a strong focus on the ingredients; DASF ordered everything on the dessert menu and the ice cream Bomb was amazing.
Atmosphere – 97, hard to beat the Chef’s table, the setting was rustic and very cozy. Being in the kitchen, the noise level was never a factor. The rest of the restaurant seems quaint and cozy.Service – 93, the waiter was attentive and helpful; he would have garnered a much higher score but he did forget to bring an espresso that was ordered.

Piperade (Mar, 05)
Food - 90 – Pretty much everyone enjoyed all the small plates, entrees and desserts we ordered.
Atmosphere – 90, once again, DASF got a “special” table. They sat us at their rustic “family” table with a unique chandelier. The restaurant is small and cozy.
Service – 72, the waitress was very nice but she was very slow. We had to wait a long time before she took our order and another long wait before dessert.

Aziza (Feb, 05)
Food - 89 “all excellent, from appetizers to desserts”; “innovative cocktails”; “great value for the quality and the amount of food served”
Atmosphere - 88 "comfortable and cozy”; “washing hands with rose water as soon as we sat was a nice touch”
Service - 92 “drink service was slow with only one bartender but made up for it by buying our table a round”; “waiters and busboys were in complete control”; “very good service overall”

La Suite (Jan, 05)
Food - 89 “great appetizers, especially the steam clams”; “the Niman Ranch entrecôte steak and fries was very good and the halibut was outstanding!”
Atmosphere - 90 "nice restaurant with good vibes”
Service - 80 “waitress did her job but she lacks personality”

Tamarine (Dec, 04)
Food - 87 “appetizers and entrees are all very good but no “wow” factor”; “desserts were ordinary”
Atmosphere - 90 "nice restaurant"; “bathrooms are very clean”
Service - 88 “waitress did an excellent job”; “excellent service overall, very attentive”; “lacks personality”

El Raigon (Nov, 04)
Food - 87 “all the steaks are excellent, especially the Skirt Steak”; “very good sides – try the mashed squash”; “appetizers were ordinary”; “Panqueques con Dulce de Leche is very good and the Chocolate Bombe is very rich”.
Atmosphere - 90 "a very cozy setting, small room but quaint"
Service - 90 “waitress was very helpful and loves to talk”; “excellent service overall, very attentive”.

A16 (Oct, 04)
Food - 88 “the pork entrees were excellent”; “appetizers were savory and well executed”; “halibut was a little on the dry side”; “above average desserts”.
Atmosphere - 85 "a very cozy setting, nice room but a bit on the noisy side"
Service - 75 “waiter was pretty good but they seem understaffed that night”; “busboy appeared flustered and lost at times and he forgot our doggie bag”

Baraka (Sep, 04)
Food - 81 “appetizers were the star of this dinner”; “the warm pistachio-crusted goat cheese w/honey was to die for!”; “the best squid I’ve ever had”; “very average desserts”; “some entrees were good, the Monkfish Tagines were bland w/too much potatoes and little Monkfish”.
Atmosphere - 85 "a very cozy setting”; “room was very romantic"; "the ottoman-style chairs became uncomfortable after two hours".
Service - 70 “Our waiter oversold us and recommended too much food.”; “waiter was rather arrogant”.


Cortez (Aug, 04)
Food - 88 "the dishes came out course by course in a well paced manner”; "dessert was the big hit"
Atmosphere - 90 "a very cozy setting, great for conversations"; "very private"
Service - 92 "excellent service overall”; “it seems like we had 20 different people waited on us”; “very friendly waitress that did an excellent job orchestrating the service from her team of busboys, back-waiters and other waiters"

Town Hall (Jul, 04)
Food - 90 “Everything was very good, we all really enjoyed our entrees, especially the pork chops”
Atmosphere - 85 "a warm and comfortable place with interesting decorative pieces"
Service - 75 "the waiter did an adequate job, nothing over the top"

Circolo (Jun, 04)
Food - 75 "creative appetizers"; "too much going on for the entrees"
Atmosphere - 85 "a very cozy space"; "good place to people watch"
Service - 90 "very cool waitress that was on top of her game"; "very stylish"

Frisson Write-Up

Here is Phu's write-up from the June outing to Frisson:

DASF celebrated its 1-Yr anniversary in June by dining at the Chef’s Table at Frisson. Frisson is a chic and stylish restaurant (Interior Design Magazine profiles the restaurant) and definitely a place to see and be seen (although we had the privacy of the Chef’s table). New York chef Sarah Schafer's serves New American cuisine using the freshest local seasonal ingredients to deliver a nice combination of fresh flavors.

Ten people dined at Frisson and this was the first time DASF broke the $100 per person benchmark!

Frisson received the following ratings (on a scale of 1 - 100):

Food - 96 – Appetizers were the definitely the highlight! The tuna tartare appetizer with the cucumber-melon sorbet is one of the best matched appetizer we’ve tasted! The seared Fois Gras was luxurious without tasting fat or heavy and the brandied soft polenta was incredible.

Atmosphere – 95, a beautifully design restaurant. The restroom is hidden downstairs, very sexy and its co-ed (Jon Carter's favorite feature!). The Chef’s table is in a private room with its own music volume control.

Service – 92, the waiter and his support staff did a solid job overall. The Maitre’D made several appearances to ensure that we were well taken care of (this might be because he knew that we are a dining group).

For July, we are dinning at Kingfish!!